Glycosylation events in the processing and ... - ACS Publications

The glycosylation of pro-ACTH-endorphin and of its cleavage products has been studied in a mouse pituitary tumor cell line (AtT-20/D16v) by pulse labe...
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Biochemistry 1981, 20, 1666-1675

Glycosylation Events in the Processing and Secretion of Pro-ACTH-endorphin in Mouse Pituitary Tumor Cells? Marjorie A. Phillips,* Marcia L. Budarf,! and Edward Herbert*

ABSTRACT: The glycosylation of pro-ACTH-endorphin and of its cleavage products has been studied in a mouse pituitary tumor cell line (AtT-2O/Dlby) by pulse labeling with 3H-labeled sugars and amino acids followed by immunoprecipitation and sodium dodecyl sulfate slab gel electrophoresis. The results of this analysis indicate that there are two major intracellular species of pro-ACTH-endorphin (29K and 32K) and two minor species (30K and 34K). All of these species label with [3H]mannose, [3H]glucosamine, and [ 3H]galactose. In addition, the 30K and 34K species label with [3H]fucoseand are the major secreted forms of pro-ACTH-endorphin, Only the 29K and 32K forms are labeled after a short pulse with [35S]methionine. The 30K and 34K forms become labeled during a subsequent chase. Glycosidase digestion of Pronase glycopeptides derived from pro-ACTH-endorphin shows that the 29K and 32K forms contain high mannose type oligosaccharides. The 30K and 34K forms contain complex oligosaccharides with both core and branch sugars. These results

A

mouse pituitary tumor cell line (AtT-20/DI6") has been previously used as a model system for anterior lobe corticotrophs to study the synthesis and processing of pro-ACTHendorphin (Mains & Eipper, 1976; Mains et al., 1977; Roberts & Herbert, 1977b; Roberts et al., 1978). Processing of this molecule is particularly interesting because (1) it is the precursor to several different hormones and (2) it is present in both anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary but is processed to different peptide hormones in each lobe (Roberts et al., 1978). The precursor is processed in AtT-20 cells to glycosylated and unglycosylated forms of a( 1-39)-ACTH] (12-15K ACTH and 4.5K ACTH, respectively), a fi-lipotropin-like molecule (12.5K endorphin), and a /3-endorphin-like molecule (3.5K endorphin). In addition, a glycoprotein (1418K N-terminal fragment) is derived from the N-terminal portion of the precursor (Mains & Eipper, 1978; Roberts et al., 1978; Keutmann et al., 1979). Processing studies (Mains & Eipper, 1978; Roberts et al., 1978) have shown that the generation of the peptide hormone end products requires at least three proteolytic cleavages which occur in a specific order as diagrammed in Figure 1. The existence of glycoprotein forms of ACTH generates further complexity in the processing pathway. Heterogeneity is produced by the addition of different numbers of oligosaccharide side chains to pro-ACTH-endorphin. A 29K form has been identified which is a precursor to 4.5K ACTH (via a 21K intermediate), and a 32K form acts as a precursor to 12-15K ACTH (via a 23K intermediate) (Figure 1 ) (Roberts f From the Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403. Received September 21, 1979; revised manuscrip1 received August 21, 1980. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 A M 16879. 'Present address: Laboratory of Toxicology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115. 5 Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Wendell M. Stanley Hall. University of California. Berkeley, CA 94720.

suggest that the 29K and 32K forms are converted to 30K and 34K forms by processing of mannose-rich oligosaccharides. Pulse labeling with 3H-labeled sugars shows that pro-ACTHendorphin is the first species labeled with both core and branch sugars. The label appears later in 21-26K and 12-15K ACTH, suggesting that glycosylation is completed before proteolytic cleavages begin. In support of this model, it is shown that intracellular and secreted forms of ACTH and N-terminal fragments have the same apparent molecular weights on sodium dodecyl sulfate slab gels. Furthermore, glycosidase digestion shows that the intracellular and secreted forms of the latter proteins contain complex oligosaccharides. The N-terminal portion of pro-ACTH-endorphin gives rise during processing to two major fragments (14.5K and 1617.5K fragments) with very similar tryptic peptide contents. The 14.5K fragment contains a single oligosaccharide while the 16-17.5K fragment contains two.

et al., 1978; Eipper & Mains, 1978). Recent investigations of the biosynthesis of complex-type oligosaccharides of vesicular stomatitus virus (VSV) G protein have shown that glycosylation of proteins occurs as a highly ordered multistep process generating many intermediates (Kornfeld et al., 1978). The initial step is the attachment of a high mannose type oligosaccharide containing only N acetylglucosamine,mannose, and glucose. Several glucose and mannose residues are subsequently removed to produce the smaller complex-type core followed by the stepwise addition of branch sugars, N-acetylglucosamine, galactose, fucose, and sialic acid (Tabas et al., 1978; Hunt et al., 1978; Robbins et al., 1977). Since pro-ACTH-endorphin contains complex-type oligosaccharides (Eipper & Mains, 1977; Roberts et al., 1978), one might expect to find several glycosylation intermediates. In particular, we have looked for molecules which contain high Abbreviations used: ACTH, adrenocorticotropin; B-LPH, B-lipotropin; NaDodSO,, sodium dodecyl sulfate; TPCK, tosylphenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone; Bis, N,N'-methylenebis(acry1amide);Temed, N,N,N',N'-tetramethylenediamine;DMEM, Dulbecco-Vogt minimal essential medium; PhCH2S02F, phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride; IAA, iodoacetamide; SAC, Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I; BSA, bovine serum albumin; YADH, yeast alcohol dehydrogenase; dansyl, 5-(dimethylamino)rlaphthalene- 1-sulfonyl; DNP, 2,5-dinitrophenol; VSV, vesicular stomatitis virus; Gdn.HC1, guanidine hydrochloride; Tris, tris(hydroxymethy1)aminomethane; GlcNAc, N-acetylglucosamine; endoglycosidase H, endo-P-N-acetylglucosaminidaseH; RIA-ACTH, ACTH activity by radioimmunoassay expressed as nanograms of purified porcine ACTH with equivalent activity. The forms of ACTH, endorphin, and N-terminal fragments are named according to their apparent molecular weights determined by using NaDodSOI gel electrophoresis (Bio-Phore, 12%; Roberts et al., 1978). The intracellular precursor forms that contain both ACTH and endorphin are 29K and 32K pro-ACTH-endorphin, and the secreted forms are 30K and 34K pro-ACTH-endorphin. Other forms of ACTH or endorphin are designated as follows: 21K, 23K, and 26K ACTH for the intermediate forms of ACTH; 12-15K ACTH and 4.5K ACTH for the glycosylated and unglycosylated forms of a( 1-39)-ACTH; 12.5K endorphin for the P-LPH-like molecule; 3.5K endorphin for the 8-endorphin-like molecule.

0006-2960/8 1 /0420- 1666$01.25/0 0 198 1 American Chemical Society

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GLYCOSYLATION OF PRO-ACTH-ENDORPHIN 28.5K 4 29K (precursor)

32K

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active methionine was added in order to deplete the intracellular methionine pools. Incorporation of 3sS into C1,CCOOH-precipitable products was linear for 30-60 min 23 K 21K after 10 min of equilibration in this medium. For longer (ACTH intermediate) (ACTH intermediatd labeling periods, complete DMEM without serum was used, NH2- te Irni naI and incorporation into C1,CCOOH-precipitable products was peptide 45K 13K linear for at least 10 h after a 10-min equilibration period. For (ACTH) 4 (ACTH) short pulse times (1 h or less), deficient DMEM does not endorphin appear to alter the processing of pro-ACTH-endorphin or FIGURE 1: Model of processing of pro-ACTH-endorphin. secretion of hormone (as shown by NaDodSO, gels of immunoprecipitated cell extracts and culture medium). mannose type oligosaccharides and others which contain smaller complex-type core sugars with different numbers of In order to increase the specific activity of ACTH labeled branch sugars. In this paper, we present evidence that some with 3H-labeled sugars, medium without glucose and horse of these intermediates are produced during the processing of serum and supplemented with nonessential amino acids and pro-ACTH-endorphin. pyruvate (Eipper et al., 1976) was used. Cells were equiliProteolytic cleavage and glycosylation events have been brated in this medium for 30-60 min before labeling to deplete described for precursor proteins in many cell types, but the intracellular sugar pools. This procedure increased the intemporal relationship between these events has not been well corporation of radioactive sugar precursors into ACTH 5characterized. This paper further describes some of the re20-fold without altering the incorporation of [35S]methionine. lationships between protein synthesis, glycosylation, cleavage, Incorporation of [3H]mannose, [3H]galactose,and [3H]fucose and secretion of ACTH/endorphin peptides. into C1,CCOOH-precipitable products was linear for more than 4 h after an initial lag of 10 min. Incorporation of Materials and Methods [3H]glucosaminewas linear after 30 min and remained linear Materials. D- [6-3H]Glucosaminehydrochloride (20 or 38 for at least 4 h. Use of this medium did not alter the procesSing Ci/mmol), P[l-3H]mannose ( 5 Ci/mmol), D[l-3H]galactose or secretion of ACTH. (22 Ci/mmol), ~ - [ 6 - ~ H ] f u c o s(26 e Ci/mmol), L - [ ~ - ~ H ] phenylalanine (26 Ci/mmol), and ~ - [ ~ ~ S ] m e t h i o n i n e The metabolic conversion of radioactive sugar precursors during a 2-h incubation period in glucose-free medium was (500-1000 Ci/mmol) were purchased from Amersham Searle determined by identifying the labeled sugars present in imCorp. Other chemicals used were as follows: TPCK-treated munoprecipitable ACTH proteins (Roberts et al., 1978). The trypsin and neuraminidase (Worthington Biochemical Corp.); proportion of cpm recovered from the ACTH immunojack bean a-mannosidase, Clostridium perfringens neurprecipitate as the sugar originally added to the incubation was aminidase (types IV and IX),ovalbumin (grade VI), fetuin as follows: mannose, 73%; galactose, 68%; glucosamine, 95%. (type 111), and bovine thyroglobulin (type I) (Sigma Chemical Cell extracts were prepared for gel electrophoresis as deCo.); endo-p-N-acetylglucosaminidaseH from Streptomyces & Eipper, 1976; Roberts et al., scribed previously (Mains griseus (Miles Laboratories); electrophoresis-grade acrylamide, 1978) except that BSA (the carrier protein) was omitted. The Bis, Temed, and ammonium persulfate used for slab gel omission of BSA decreased nonspecific precipitation of proteins electrophoresis and Affigel (Bio-Rad); electrophoresis-grade during immunoprecipitation but did not alter either the reNaDodSO, (British Drug House). covery of ACTH (as determined by RIA) or the distribution Columns. Pronase glycopeptides were analyzed on Bio-Gel of the forms of ACTH. For oligosaccharide characterization, P-4 (200-400 mesh) columns (0.8 X 100 cm) equilibrated with cells were extracted with 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mM 50 mM NH40COCH3,pH 6.0, and 0.02% NaN3. The flow NaC1, 1.5 mM MgC12, and 0.5% Triton X-100 containing rate was 4 mL/h, and 600-pL fractions were collected. V, was protease inhibitors (PhCh2S02Fand IAA, 1 mM each) to marked with 1 mg of BSA and V, with 100 pg of mannose. avoid hydrolysis of acid-sensitive sialic acids. Nuclei were The column was calibrated with ovalbumin, fetuin, and bovine removed by centrifugation, and the supernatants were stored thyroglobulin Pronase glycopeptides, with raffinose and at -20 OC. The recovery of the glycosylated forms of ACTH stachyose oligosaccharides, and with bacitracin. Standards appears to be identical for both methods of extraction. (except bacitracin and BSA) were located by the phenolHowever, there is a loss of unglycosylated ACTH in the H2S04assay (Ashwell, 1966). For the determination of the neutral extraction method. This loss does not affect the inmolecular weights of N-terminal fragments, a Sepharose 6B terpretation of the data in these experiments. column (1 X 70 cm) equilibrated with 4 M Gdn-HC1 and Immunoprecipitations. Purified antiserum Wilma and 0.02% BSA was used. Fractions of 800 pL were collected. antiserum Henrietta were used for all ACTH immunopreciProtein standards and samples to be analyzed were dissolved pitations, and purified antiserum Bridgette was used for the in 6 M Gdn-HC1 and 5% 2-mercaptoethanol and heated at 70 endorphin immunoprecipitations. Antisera Wilma, Henrietta, OC for 1 h. V, was determined with blue dextran and V, with Violet, and Bridgette were prepared in New Zealand white 2-mercaptoethanol. The column was calibrated with BSA, rabbits by subcutaneous injections of Freund's adjuvant mixed carbonic anhydrase, and cytochrome c which were located by with a concentrate (Island et al., 1965) of AtT-20 culture -4280. medium. The primary injection was with 20 pg of immunoIncubation of AtT-20 Cells with Radioactive Amino Acids reactive equivalent of ap( 1-39) (by RIA) followed by monthly and Sugars. AtT-20 cells were grown in Falcon microtest wells booster injections of 10-30 pg each. ACTH antibodies were in DMEM plus 10% horse serum and incubated with radiopurified by affinity chromatography by using porcine a( 1-39) active sugars and amino acids as previously described (Roberts et al., 1978; Mains & Eipper, 1976) with the following covalently linked to Affigel, and endorphin antibodies were purified by using human j3-lipotropin linked to Affigel (Mains modifications. In order to incorporate sufficient [,%I& Eipper, 1976). ACTH- and endorphin-containing proteins methionine during a short labeling period (5 min) for detection were immunoprecipitated by using the SAC procedure of proteins by autoradiography, cells were equilibrated for (Kessler, 1975; Roberts et al., 1978). The specificity of the 10-30 min with methionine-deficient medium before radio-

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immunoprecipitation was established by competition experiments with an excess of various unlabeled peptides as reported by Roberts & Herbert (1977a). The protein bands on the gels were identified by tryptic peptide mapping (Roberts et al., 1978). For the isolation of N-terminal fragments, ACTH-containing proteins were first removed by immunoprecipitation. Crude serum containing N-terminal antibodies (antiserum Violet, Bridgette, or Bertha) was added to the supernatant; the sample was incubated for 12-16 h at 4 OC, and the antibody-antigen complexes were precipitated by addition of SAC. The specificity of these antisera was determined by tryptic peptide mapping of the immunoprecipitated proteins and is described under Results. NaDodS04-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis. Analyses of proteins on Bio-Rad 12% acrylamide gels were performed as previously described (Roberts & Herbert, 1977a,b; Roberts et al., 1978). Discontinuous NaDodSO, slab gel electrophoresis was according to Laemmli (1970), with the modifications of OFarrell (1975). Ovalbumin, YADH, carbonic anhydrase, ribonuclease A, and cytochrome c were included in each slab gel as standards for the determination of molecular weights and were located by Coomassie blue staining. Fluorography of 3H-labeled proteins was according to Bonner & Laskey (1974). Tryptic Peptide Analysis. Radioactive proteins separated on NaDodSO, tube gels were eluted, precipitated, and digested with trypsin for analysis by paper electrophoresis at pH 6.5 (Roberts et al., 1978). Radioactive proteins separated on NaDodS04 slab gels were located by autoradiography and cut out of the gel. The proteins were eluted with 600 p L of 0.1 M NH4HC03,carrier BSA was added, and the protein was precipitated by addition of C1,CCOOH to a final concentration of 15%. Tryptic peptide analysis proceeded according to Roberts et al. (1978). Tryptic peptides were recovered from paper by eluting 8-mm slices of the paper for 12 h at room temperature with 500 pL of 0.1 M NH4HC03, pH 8.5. Radioactive fractions were pooled and lyophilized. Preparation of Pronase Glycopeptides. 3H-Sugar-labeled immunoprecipitates were fractionated by using NaDodS04 tube gels. Proteins were eluted from 1-mm slices of the gels at room temperature with 50 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 0.1% NaDodSO,, and 0.1% Triton X-100. Carrier BSA (1 mg) was added to appropriate pooled eluates, and the protein was precipitated by addition of 7-8 volumes of acetone at -20 OC. The precipitate was collected by centrifugation and washed once with acetone (-20 "C). The protein was dissolved in 100 mM Tris-HC1, pH 8.0, and 10 mM CaCl, and digested with 10 pg of Pronase at 37 "C. Toluene was added to prevent bacterial growth. Aliquots of 10 pg of Pronase were added every 24 h for a total digestion time of 4 days. Insoluble material was removed by centrifugation, and the supernatant was lyophilized. Glycosidase Digestion of Pronase Glycopeptides. Pronase was removed from the glycopeptides by passage through a Bio-Gel P-4 column. Appropriate fractions were pooled and lyophilized, and the glycopeptides were dissolved in 150 pL of buffer and digested at 37 OC in the presence of toluene. Endo-P-N-acetylgulcosaminidaseH (endoglycosidase H) digestions were done in sodium citrate, pH 5.5, for 2 days by using 5 milliunits of enzyme. a-Mannosidase digestions were done in 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 4.0, and 10 mM ZnCI2 for 5 days with 400 milliunits of enzyme, with a second aliquot of enzyme added after the second day of digestion.

PHILLIPS, BUDARF, A N D HERBERT

Base Hydrolysis of Glycopeptides. [3H]Glucosamine-labeled tryptic glycopeptides were prepared as described above. Half of the sample was dissolved in 200 p L of 0.1 N NaOH and 1.0 N NaBH, and hydrolyzed at 37 OC for 72 h in an evacuated tube. The other half was dissolved in 200 pL of 1.O N NaOH and 1.O N NaBH, and hydrolyzed at 95 OC for 6 h in an evacuated tube (Eipper & Mains, 1977). After digestion, the samples were neutralized on ice with 90% acetic acid, desalted, and analyzed on the Bio-Gel P-4 column. Radioactive fractions were pooled and lyophilized. In order to identify the reduced form of the sugar, the sample was dissolved in 4 N HCl and hydrolyzed in an evacuated tube for 6 h at 100 OC (Spiro, 1972). The HCl was evaporated in an evacuated desiccator over solid NaOH. The sample was dissolved in 20 p L of 2 N HCl and analyzed by descending chromatography for 72 h (Fischer & Nebel, 1955). Aliquots of 10 pg each of glucosamine and NaBH,-reduced glucosamine (glucosaminitol) were cochromatographed as standards and were located with ninhydrin. 3H-labeled sugars were eluted from 5-mm slices of paper with 400 p L of 0.1 N HCl. Results Analysis of [35S]Methionine and 3H-Sugar-Labeled ACTH and Endorphin by NaDodSO, Slab Gel Electrophoresis. Figure 2 is a slab gel analysis of [35S]methionine-labeled proteins from cell extracts or culture medium immunoprecipitated with either ACTH or @-endorphinantiserum. The 29-34K proteins are the only proteins which contain both antigenic determinants and are identified as pro-ACTH-endorphin on the basis of their molecular weights and tryptic peptide content (Figure 3A). Tryptic peptide analysis was used to identify the lower molecular weight forms of ACTH, including 20-25K ACTH intermediates (Figure 3B), 13-1 5K and 4.5K ACTH (Figure 3C), and endorphin (not shown). Comparative studies by NaDodSO, gel electrophoresis show that the secreted forms of pro-ACTH-endorphin (30.5K and 34K) are slightly larger than the major intracellular forms of these proteins (29K and 32K). There are also minor intracellular pools of 30.5K and 34K pro-ACTH-endorphin. In contrast, both intracellular and secreted forms of the lower molecular weight cleavage products of pro-ACTH-endorphin are the same size. A plausible explanation of these results is that the 30.5K and 34K pro-ACTH-endorphin molecules arise from the 29K and 32K forms (respectively) by processing of oligosaccharides. Pulse-chase experiments support this hypothesis. As shown in the autoradiogram in Figure 4, label enters 29K and 32K pro-ACTH-endorphin after an 8-min pulse with [35S]methionineand then appears in the 30.5K and 34K proteins after a 30-min chase. Further support for this possibility was obtained by labeling cells with various 3H-labeled sugars and isolating the forms of ACTH by immunoprecipitation with ACTH antisera and slab gel electrophoresis as shown in Figure 5. Note first that all of the 35Sforms of ACTH that label with methionine except 4.5K ACTH also label with 3H-labeled sugars, showing that they are all glycoproteins. It can also be observed that [ 3 H ] m a n n ~ [a ~ ecore sugar added to glycoproteins during or just after protein synthesis (Kiely et al., 1976; Bergman & Kuehl, 1977)] labels only the 29K and 32K forms (Figure 5, lane 2). [3H]Fucose, a terminal branch sugar added later in the processing pathway, labels only the intracellular 30K and 34K forms (Figure 5B, lane 4). [3H]Glucosamine,both a core and a branch sugar, labels all of these forms (Figure 5A, lane 3). Finally, it can be seen that only the 30K and 34K forms of pro-ACTH-endorphin are found (Figure 5B, lane 1) in culture medium and that they contain all four 3H-labeled

j 3 4 K r 3 2 K 30K 29K

-

22 K\ 20 K-

13-14.5K-

120

r*c..

-

32K ACTU ... endorphin m u ACTHendorphin

mlY?l -

25.5K ACTH

1401

r-s

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GLYCOSYLATION OF PRO-ACTH-ENDORPHIN

21.5-23.5K ACTH

-12.5K

"4.5K" -

--.. -

"3.5K"-

13.5- 15K ACTb 4.5K ACTH

1 2 3 4 NaDodSO, slab gel analysis of ACTH and endorphin proteins from cell extracls and culture medium. One microtest well culture of AtT-20 cells was incubated with 150 pCi of L-["S]methionine dissolved in 50 pL of low-methionine (40 pM) DMEM without horse serum for 2 h. Half of the culture medium and cell extract was immunoprecipiated with antiserum Bridgette (anti-endorphin) and half with antiserum Henrietta (anti-ACTH). The proteins were analyzed by NaDodSO, slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Lanes I and 2 show ACTH proteins in culture medium and cell extract, respectively; lanes 3 and 4 show endorphin proteins from cell extracts and culture medium. See Materials and Methods for molecular weight calculations. FIGURE 2

sugars (Figure SA, lanes 1 and 5; Figure 5B, lanes 2 and 3). The results of this analysis suggest that the 30K and 34K forms are derived from 29K and 32K by the addition of terminal branch sugars. Examination of both intracellular and secreted forms of 'H-sugar-labeled 21-26K and 12-15K ACTH reveals that these proteins label with both core and branch sugars. Therefore, the oligosaccharides of the intracellular forms of the latter proteins appear to be more fully processed than oligosaccharides of 29K and 32K pro-ACTH-endorphin. Characterizarion of N-Terminal Fragments. N-Terminal fragments labeled with 'H-labeled sugars or amino acids have been partially purified by immunoprecipitation and NaDodS04 gel electrophoresis (see Materials and Methods for details). We define an N-terminal fragment as a protein which contains all of the tryptic peptides present in prc-ACTH-endorphin that are not derived from 12SK endorphin or from 4.5K ACTH. Tube gel electrophoresis resolves two peptides that can be identified as N-terminal fragments by this criterion (not shown). Analysis of N-terminal immunoprecipitates of cell extracts by slab gel electrophoresis resolves these proteins into four bands (Figure 6). Tryptic peptide analysis of each of the ['Hlphenylalanine-labeled bands shows that only the 13.5-37.5K class of proteins contains N-terminal peptides. This is illustrated for the 14.5K fragment in Figure 7. It can

-t 1

ORIGIN I

RLYS

n o m 3 Tryptic peptides of ['%]melhionindabelal ACTH proteins. One microtest well culture of AtT-20 cells was incubated with 150 pCi of L-["Slmethionine for 2 h in methionine-deficient medium without horse serum. The ACTH-containing proteins were immunoprecipitated with antiserum Wilma and separated by NaDodSO. slab gel electrophoresis. [3S]Methioninc-labeledproteins were located by autoradiography. The radioactive bands were cut out of the gel, eluted, and digested with trypsin as described under Materials and Methods. Tryptic peptides were analyzed by paper electrophoresis at pH 6.5. Mobility is defined relative to lysine with R I .of~ e-DNP of lysine = 0 and RLp = I , A background of 15 cpm has been subtracted. be seen that only the peptides derived from the N-terminal region of the 29K form of pro-ACTH-endorphin are present in the 14.5K fragment. Peptide maps of the 17.5K. 16K, and 13.5K proteins are identical with the 14.5K map whereas all other protein bands on the gel contain non-N-terminal peptides (not shown). Analysis of [3H]~ucosamine-labeledtryptic peptides (Figure. 7) shows that the 16-17.SK forms contain two tryptic glycopeptides whereas the 13.5-14.5K forms contain only one. Both of these tryptic glycopeptides are present in digests of 29-34K pro-ACTH-endorphin and 21-26K ACTH (Roberts et al., 1978). The existence of two N-terminal tryptic glycopeptides could be explained by charge heterogeneity due to different

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Table I

Pronase -dycorevtides . .. 29K, 32K proACTHcndorphin 30K, 34K pro. ACTH-endorphin 30K, 34K pro-

rnigrationFIGURE 4

ACTHendorphin 21-26K ACTH 21-26K ACTH 12-15K ACTH 12-15K ACTH

Pulse chase with [%]methionine. Two micmwell cultures

of AtT-20 cells containing approximately the same amount of ACTH-RIA were each pulsed for 8 min with 50 pCi of ['SImethionine dissolved in 50 p L of methioninpdeficient DMEM. Either the cells were extracted immediately with acetic acid (0-min chase) or the medium was replaced with DMEM containing the standard concentration of methionine for a 30-min chase period followed by acetic acid extraction. The experiments were done at approximately 30 OC in order to slow the processing events sufficiently lo allow the transitions in molecular weight to be detected. ACTH was immunoprecipitated by using antiserum Wilma. The proteins were analyzed hy NaDcdSO, slab gel electrophoresis, visualized by autoradiography, and quantitated by microdensitometry. Molecular weights were calculated as described under Materials and Methods.

source cell

2250-2550

+

+

Cell

2700-3250

-

-

medium

2900-3100

cell

2600

-

-

molwt'

medium

2600

cell

3250 3250 2650

medium

cell 14.5-17.5K Nterminal fragment 14.5-17.5K Nmedium 2550 terminal fraement Multiple peaks are reported as a range ofmolecuLv weight values. Single peaks are reported as a single value.

-

-

13.5-14.5K and 16-17.51